The Art of FAITH: Horror at 192x160 Pixels

In this 2019 GDC session, Airdorf Games' Mason Smith explains the decisions and principles that contributed to the art style of FAITH.
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[@SrSeed]

He was so modest when talking about his sound design... The audio design for the game is so great.
I know it's just bit-crushing, but with the art he has, it's the perfect combo.
Long live Retro

[@TheRealKwisty]

When does he mention his audio design?

[@roofkat]

Those rotoscoped animations look very haunting, nicely done.
Thanks for the talk!

[@AlekseyLoykuts]

Okay, you young aspiring gamedevs - this guy made one of the top indie horror games and still have a dayjob to support his family. Be smart. And big kudos to the Airdorf for his games and this talk. super humble, super informative

[@igorigor3960]

it's a 1$ niche genre game that you can "play" on youtube. how it can make you rich?

[@Ironlionm4n]

@@igorigor3960 rich != happy

[@diming7616]

@@igorigor3960 lol

[@Nopperabou]

Be smart? Incredible advice.

[@AlekseyLoykuts]

​@@NopperabouDid you really expect to see professional career counseling here?

[@roeyshapiro4878]

There were some really nice takeaways here, especially the nice flip of "design by subtraction". Enjoyed the modesty and straight-forwardness as well. If you're reading this, Mason, thanks for your experience and time.

[@Anonymous-ix7ms]

So priest John Ward sprite is based on the game dev himself!

[@SrSeed]

Yes! This game's aesthetic is so unique. Amazing game

[@DarkThomy]

Omg, what a nice and funny guy !
And what a great talk for a great game !
(also, love the World of Horror mention ! Still hopes people will discover this game..)

[@deezee2965]

This man made the best horror video game from the past 10 years while artisticaly paying homage to the 80's. Sound-Graphics-Story. Minimal and Grandiose.

[@dovedozen]

Such a huge mood about 16:9 being Too Horizontal; I never thought about it until I started working on GUIs for a game but it's definitely the weirdest and most frequent problem I run up against. It genuinely never occurred to me that "just make your game a different aspect ratio" was an option, somehow?? But it makes sense & I love hearing that it was a deliberate-but-also-kind-of-arbitrary creative decision. Extremely cool.

[@jasperparkertrenfield8302]

Really great talk, loved the attitude and approach to such an interesting design.

[@CallMeRandomVG]

Glad to see a Vinesauce Toilet account make an appearance :')

[@Florp3434]

What?

[@BiohazardEXTREME]

Great talk! As developer who's a huge horror fan whose first horror game also was Resident Evil 2 on the N64, this was hugely inspiring!

[@MrBoogerblood]

This is one of my favorite talks

[@kelzayeee]

I definitely screamed "OMG WTF IS THAT" while playing Faith

[@dwilliams21]

Absolutely FABULOUS. So cool to see the various influences (Andrew Wyeth!) and the reference footage. Design by addition! Amazing!

[@dwilliams21]

As I sit here 10 months later using filmed video of myself for art reference, I think of this talk, and I don't feel so weird/alone.

[@kadyjerry]

i love airdorf he has such a nice voice

[@aminthemar]

10:48 Yeah, that's pretty much how you would describe all of human history until the 2000s.

[@BronyKoN]

14:56 - it me 😂

[@greenbroccolistudios1275]

So this guy was done doing his rotoscoping work
The solo dev Airdorf himself 15:01
Man i kindly like this game tho ;D

[@concibar4267]

yes, but also his voice is pure ASMR when he goes down with it :3

[@shroomcraftgames]

Loved this talk!

[@LevitatingCups]

Mortis.

[@hggs4466]

"then I would get in costume"
The costume in question:

[@roxas5071]

I like how he savagely stabbed the camera while shirtless

[@ARRH729]

And mostly expressionless (except for the last seconds)
He pulled of being intimidating and not intimidating at the same time

[@chris_devlog]

I really enjoyed this game and I'm making a game with a similar aesthetic, looking forward to this

[@nicholasmiller8685]

very interesting i never heard of thus games i need to check it out.

[@Patallogus666]

Талантливо! =))))))))

[@therupoe]

I loved this one!

[@hushmychild6745]

Man I nearly my mind when he showed off his trailer.

[@sorry987654321]

very good talk

[@arturgomes]

airdoff is awesome

[@HerbieChuckNorris]

This talk is great.

[@MZFKDL]

Yes, he managed to scare me, so that I imagined these images at night

[@DallasCioce]

I just want to know how he did the voice parts, this is something I may have skipped through in the video can someone inform me how he did it

[@dankerbell]

text to speech

[@Nopperabou]

"Oh my Gosh", Christian

[@joshuastein1888]

oh man the video has 668 likes... so close..

[@fourdaysdead]

awesome!

[@WhenYouSeeItDontMove.]

15:08 -15:10 wow

[@theRiverOtter]

meow